Thibaut's day has finally come

Sara Rose Thibaut has waited a long time for what might have never happened, but the opportunity has finally come. This weekend, Aug. 22-25, tryouts will be held for the women's professional baseball league in Washington, D.C., which will begin play in the spring of 2026. Six hundred women will descend on Nationals Park, home of the Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals, to try out for 150 positions, which will make up the six-team league when it begins next spring. Thibaut, 30, has been playing baseball all her life, starting in Folsom National Little League as a 4-year-old and played all the way through until she was 18. Thibaut continued her career in high school, playing baseball on the varsity team at Sacramento Waldorf and has been playing in a men's league, the National Adult Baseball Association, for the last 12 years. "It's been a long time coming," Thibaut said. "I'm beyond excited. I feel it's what I've been training for my whole life. "I do wish it happened 10 years earlier, but I feel like I'm in the prime of my life, fitness wise and training wise. I am glad it's at least happening now, while I've still got some time to play. It's all culminating now and I feel I'm ready for it. "I feel like it's the right time for me, but I'm also excited to get this started for young women and girls so they actually have a future in women's baseball." Since Thibaut was a young girl playing little league in Folsom, she's always wanted to play baseball. "When I was a little girl, I always wondered why I didn't see any girls playing baseball," Thibaut said. "That was my dream, to be the first female baseball player. When I tell people I play baseball, they're like 'oh, you mean softball with a big yellow ball.' I'm like, 'No, I play baseball.' They're like 'You mean fast-pitch softball?' I'm like 'No, I mean like real baseball.' It's hard for them to picture because they've never seen it, but I have seen it. To me, it's never been outlandish for a female to play baseball. It's not weird to me. It's my life." So this weekend, Thibaut, who plays first base in the National Adult Baseball Association's Sacramento chapter, will give it her all, as she has her dream shot; a tryout to play in a women's professional baseball league. "I grew up as a pitcher, but about eight years ago I switched to first base," Thibaut said. "I've got long legs and I do the splits all the time to get runners out at first base. It really helps. I can play anywhere in the infield and even some outfield, but I'm trying out for first base." Besides playing baseball every Sunday with the guys, Thibaut regularly goes to the gym. She's also been working out with Tamara Holmes, who's a former member of the Team USA women's baseball team. "I've trained two to three days a week with Tamara, working on batting practice and what not," Thibaut said. "I also go to the gym six days a week to stay in shape and work on my stamina. I'm ready to go." Thibaut said her strengths as a player on the field are her long legs and being able to do the splits at first base to get runners out, but there's a lot more to it than that. "My biggest strength is that I'm a team player and I'm a positive player," Thibaut said. "I so often see players who don't know how to be a good teammate or even good opponent. I know how to make the game less about baseball and more about life. What happens outside the lines is just as important as what happens inside. I feel I've got good all-around physical ability to play baseball. I'm also a good leader." The six hundred players all have a tryout time on the first day, the 22nd. If they make it through the first day, they move to the second day. If they make it through the second day, they advance to the third and so forth. The tryouts culminate with an exhibition game played at Nationals Park on Aug. 25. Players will be notified in October if they make the team.